What is "The Butcherhouse Chronicles"?

Invariably, whenever there's a press announcement concerning "The Butcherhouse Chronicles" movie, this blog encounters a spike of curious people looking for some information...

"The Butcherhouse Chronicles" was and *is* a deeply personal stage play that I started writing in April of 2003. My life was very different back then. I was getting ready to get married, locked into a dead-end job, trying to keep the dreams alive. I finished writing the first draft of the play about six months later, around October of 2003. Though I'd written a series of short pieces and one-acts, this was my first full-length stage play.

CUT TO a few years later, 2006. I'm getting a divorce, the play is staged at the Summer Play Festival and gets optioned by Paramount about a month after that festival production.

There's no shortage of snark on the internet. No way to really combat it. But this project is very near and dear to me.

No, it's not simply another "horror remake". It's an original stage play, conceived as a stage play, being adapted into a movie. A stage play designed to dismantle the archetypes of a typical slasher movie... which then had to be reverse-engineered into an actual slasher movie. Which is probably one of the reasons it's taken a little longer to get going than I would've wished.

I'm working on a lot of different projects but this is my breakthrough project. Everyone has to have a breakthrough project. Yes, it's a high-concept studio movie now, but it's also a deeply personal piece... at least at its origins.

The Grudge Chronicles

My manager mentioned this to me a few weeks ago, but I guess the word's out today...

At this point, I'm just thankful the project is still alive after the shakeup at Paramount this year.

Take care of my baby, Susco.